Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story
by Night-the-Dragon
Summary: Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, all from the POV of Ven's dragon partner, Kesshi. No pairings this time, sadly...Credit for the script goes to DJ Firewolf on Gamefaqs.
1. The Beginning

A/N: Okay, now for Birth By Sleep from another dragon of mine's POV. His name is Kesshi, and he's Ventus's equivalent in the game series. Also, this one only goes through Ventus's side of the story with Kesshi alongside him. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 1

The Beginning, Where It All Started

"Wake up, Kesshi!" Ventus. I sat up and yawned in my bed, the moonlight making my black and white patterned armor glitter.  
"What is it?" I mumbled sleepily. I looked to see my closest friend looking out of our bedroom window watching a few shooting stars fall. I gasped in awe when I saw them, and Ventus leapt to his feet and I jumped on his shoulder. We soon ran out of our room and down the front steps of the castle.  
"I can't see much from here," he muttered, and we took off to the summit. Once we got to the cliff, we looked up.  
"Wow…" we murmured in amazement as we watched the meteor shower. Ventus lay down and I curled up next to him. Ven put his hands behind his head as we watched it.  
"Why does this seem so familiar?" the blonde wondered, and I shrugged. I knew exactly what he meant, seeing as I could feel it, too. We closed our eyes and fell asleep. After a short nap, we woke up, and sat up and looked around. We stretched and yawned, and lay back down again. Suddenly, we looked up and saw Aqua, who was staring down at us.  
"Whoa!" I gasped, and we quickly sat back up. Our friend laughed at us.  
"Give us a break, Aqua," Ven told her.  
"Ven, Kesshi, you hopeless sleepyheads," she teased. "You know you should've at least brought a blanket."  
"But—Did we dream that place up? It really felt like we'd been there before…looking up at the stars…" we murmured. Aqua patted us each on the head and laughed.  
"'Cept you've both always lived here with us," she pointed out.  
"Yeah, we know," I nodded. We all three walked over to the edge of the summit and sat down.  
"Hey Aqua," Ven said suddenly, and I knew what he was going to ask; I'd been wondering, too.  
"Hm?" she asked.  
"Y'ever wonder what stars are? Where light comes from?" he asked. I raised my head when he said that, because I could control light.  
"Hmm…Well, they say—" she began, but a voice cut her off.  
"That every star up there is another world," the voice said.  
"Huh?" Ven and I said.  
"Terra," Aqua said in greeting.  
"Yep, hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own," Terra said. "The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns."  
"What? We don't get it," Ven and I said.  
"In other words, their just like you both, Ven and Kesshi," he explained. We stood up and walked toward Terra.  
"What does THAT mean?" I asked, tilting my head to the side curiously.  
"You'll both find out someday, I'm sure," Terra replied.  
"We wanna know now," Ven insisted.  
"You're both too young to know now," Terra added.  
"Quit treating us like kids," I protested, and Aqua laughed.  
"Hey, what are you laughing at?" Terra asked.  
"I can't help it," she laughed. "You three would make the weirdest brothers." She laughed again.  
"Huh?" the three of us said, and we all four laughed. We sat down at the edge of the summit looking at the sky for a while, all of us absorbed in our own thoughts. Suddenly, Aqua stood up.  
"Oh yeah," she said, remembering something. "Terra, you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow." She reached into her pocket to pull out something. "I made us good luck charms." She tossed an orange star-shaped charm to Terra, and he caught it.  
"Here!" she said to us suddenly, and she tossed a green one to Ven and a black and white one to me.  
"We each get one, too?" we said.  
"Of course. One for each of us," she told us. We held them out, close to each other in a circle. "Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit…and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other. Technically, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best I could with what I had."  
"Oh, sometimes you are such a girl," Terra teased.  
"Hey, what do you mean, 'sometimes'?"  
"So this isn't a real good luck charm?" I asked.  
"Well, that's yet to be seen," Aqua replied. "But I did work a little magic on it."  
"Really? What?" Ven asked. She held up her blue charm.  
"An unbreakable connection," she told us.  
"Hey, we're gonna head back," Terra told Ven and me.  
"Yeah, we should, too," I agreed. The four of us left for the summit entrance, and left for our home.

The next day, we stood in the throne room of the Land of Departure, where Terra and Aqua were to take their Mark of Mastery exams. Ven and I stood off to the side, where we watched. We glanced at the man in the rightmost throne, and he looked at us. We looked back down and straightened up. Master Eraqus, who was sitting in the leftmost throne, stood and walked over to stand in front of Terra and Aqua.  
"Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery," he began. "Not one but two of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidates…but this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremacy—not a test of wills, but a test of heart. Both of you may prevail, or neither. But I'm sure our guest, Master Xehanort…did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the mark. I trust you are ready."  
"Yes," Terra and Aqua said in unison.  
"Then let the examination begin," Master Eraqus said. He lifted his Keyblade and summoned five orbs of light. Terra and Aqua ready themselves for a fight. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Master Xehanort move his hand slightly. The orbs of light became surrounded by darkness and began acting erratically. Master Xehanort smiled as Terra and Aqua took care of them, but suddenly, one of the orbs flew straight at us.  
"Ven! Kesshi!" they cried out, but Ven summoned his own Keyblade and I summoned my light when the Keyblade appeared and disposed of the dark orb.  
"Don't worry about us," Ven assured them. "You two focus on the exam!"  
"But Ven, Kesshi, you're in danger here!" Aqua protested. "Go wait in your room."  
"No way!" we argued. "We've been looking forward to this—seeing you two become Masters. We're not gonna miss it now!"  
"They can take care of themselves," Terra assured her. "They've been out there training just as hard as us."  
"Yeah!" we chimed in.  
"Stay sharp, Ven and Kesshi," Aqua warned us. After all of the orbs were defeated, we all returned to our original locations.  
"That was unexpected…but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances," Master Eraqus remarked. "It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold. Which brings us to your next trial." Terra and Aqua proceeded to the center of the room, their Keyblades drawn. "Now, Terra and Aqua, the two of you will face each other in combat. Remember, there are no winners—only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is revealed. Begin!"  
Terra and Aqua began to spar. He went after her with heavy hits, but Aqua dodged each one neatly. She struck out and nearly hit Terra, but missed. He held out his hand, and it began to become covered in darkness. He noticed and quickly suppressed it. Aqua struck again, but this time, Terra blocked it. I noticed Master Xehanort smile ever so slightly to himself. I didn't think much of it, but it did bother me a bit. After the exam, Master Xehanort stood next to Master Eraqus in front of Terra and Aqua.  
"We have deliberated and reached a decision," Master Eraqus told them. "Terra, Aqua, you both performed commendably. However, only Aqua has shown the Mark of Mastery." Aqua gasped. "Terra, you failed to keep the darkness within you sufficiently in check. But, there is always next time. That is all. Aqua, as our newest Keyblade Master, you are entitled to certain knowledge. Please wait here for further instruction." The two masters walked away.  
"Hey," Aqua tried to comfort, and Ven and I ran over.  
"Terra, we're sorry," we mumbled.  
"The darkness…Where did it come from?" Terra wondered. "Sorry…but I need some time alone." He left, and we left for home, feeling bad for our friend. Later that evening, Ven and I were in our room, Ven swinging his wooden Keyblade back and forth while lying on his bed. I watched as he stopped and held it above him, and I could see Terra's name carved in it. We both sighed in unison, hoping the brunette was okay. Suddenly, bells started ringing, and we got up to run from our room.  
"Better hurry, Ventus and Kesshi…" a pair of voices urged. We looked back.  
"Huh? Who are you?" we demanded. A masked boy and small creature stood in our room.  
"Or you'll never see Terra again," they warned us.  
"What? Get real. We can see Terra anytime we want," we argued.  
"Like right now? He's leaving you both behind," the pair countered. "And by the time you catch up…he'll be a different person."  
"Look—whoever you are—you don't know the first thing about Terra," we snapped. "Him and us will always be a team. You trying to pick a fight or what?" The pair walked across our room.  
"Oh, grow up. Is that what you call friendship?" they taunted. "You'll never know the truth unless you go out and look for it yourself. Come on, what could you possibly know when you're stuck here, looking at nothing but what's in your tiny world?" The masked boy and creature stepped into a portal of darkness that appeared, and it closed behind them. We saw in our minds' eyes flashbacks of us with Terra, the last one of us sitting together and laughing.  
"Terra!" I gasped, and we ran out of our room. We ran down the stairs in the front of the castle to reach Terra.  
"Terra!" Ven yelled.  
"Huh?" Terra said, and he turned to see us as we reached him. We panted heavily as we tried to catch our breath. Terra patted our heads. "It's okay." Terra hit the guard on his left shoulder, summoning his armor and Keyblade. He held his Keyblade up into the air, releasing a beam of light from it. The beam of light opened a portal to the Lanes Between. He then tossed his Keyblade into the air, and it transformed into his Keyblade Glider. He jumped onto it when it came back down, circled around, and shot up toward the portal. Ven looked disappointed, and I whimpered slightly. Ven smacked the guard on his left shoulder as well, summoning his own armor. I had my white diamond armor that covered my body already, so I was okay. He summoned his Keyblade, tossed it into the air, and it transformed into his Keyblade Glider. He jumped onto it as it came back down, and I jumped and flapped my wings. We circled around and shot up to the portal as Aqua came running towards us.  
"Ven, Kesshi, wait!" she cried out as we vanished into the portal. We needed to find Terra, and fast, or else we knew something bad was going to happen to him.


	2. Ven and Kesshi's First New World

A/N: Chapter 2! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 2

Ven and Kesshi's First New World

We arrived in a mountainous area, and looked around. We spotted seven little men carrying pick-axes walking in a line. We watched as they walked along under the overpass we were standing on and into a mine. We entered the mine once they were all inside, and saw them working, mining jewels.  
"Huh? Who are you?" one of them asked.  
"I'm Ventus, and this is Kesshi," Ventus told them. "Call me Ven."  
"A diamond thief!" one of the others yelled suddenly. "Take cover, ya fools!" The seven men scattered and ran deeper into the mine. We looked around, confused. Once we caught up to them, we spoke.  
"We're sorry. We didn't mean to frighten you," I apologized.  
"You didn't?" a third one of the men said.  
"You mean, you're not here for our diamonds?" another asked.  
"That's not nice, treating us like some kind of bad guys," I remarked. "We're just trying to find a friend. His name is Terra. He's dressed kind of like Ven, about yay tall—"  
"Sounds like a tall tale to me!" the one who sounded the alarm earlier snapped. "Go on, git!"  
"We don't know any Terra," the fourth one said.  
"Please…Could you come over here? We just want to talk," we asked.  
"Don't fall for it! Stay where ya are!" the second one yelled at us.  
"All right. Then we'll do this the hard way!" we snapped, and we chased after them into the mine. I sniffed them out, tracking each one. Once we had rounded them all up, we confronted them.  
"Come on. We're telling you, we're no thieves," Ven told them honestly.  
"Ha, that's what they all say," the second one scoffed. "Well, we're onto ya!"  
"Fine, we get it. You want us to leave, we'll leave," I growled.  
We turned to walk out of the mine, and then Ven turned and asked, "Oh, but—can you tell us where we can find some other people around here?"  
"There's a castle beyond the chorus—I mean, the forest," the first one told us.  
"Got it. Well, thanks," Ven replied, and I shook my head a little in disbelief as we left. While we walked through the woods, we came across a little cottage.  
"This must be where those little men live," Ven remarked. Suddenly, a scream sounded from the woods. We turned and looked to see where it had come from.  
"There!" I shouted, and we ran to the source of the scream. We found a young woman in the woods, sitting on the ground, crying.  
"What's wrong?" Ven asked.  
"These horrible trees—they tried to grab me," she sobbed. Ven held out his hand to help her up.  
"Ah, it's okay," the blonde assured her. "You were probably just seeing things. It happens to all of us when we're afraid." He helped her up and I smiled warmly.  
"Oh, thank you. I feel quite better now," she told us. "I'm sure I'll get along, somehow. But…I do need a place to sleep at night. Would you anywhere I might?"  
"Well, we saw a house just up ahead," I replied. "Come on, we'll take you there. Oh, and I'm Kesshi, and this is Ventus. Ven for short."  
"Thank you, Ven and Kesshi. My name's Snow White," she said.  
"Great. Let's get going!" I said enthusiastically. We reached the little cottage and entered it.  
"We're pretty sure you'll be safe here…but sit tight while we look around," Ven and I told her once inside. We left to check around the area, and it was clear, so we went back.  
"The coast is clear! Not a monster in sight—Huh?!" I called out as we entered. We saw Snow White and the seven little men in the room.  
"Couldn't stay away, couldja? An' who invited you in, ya rotten thieves?" the mean one snapped at us. I curled my lip, showing my fangs.  
"Oh no, they're not thieves. They rescued me," Snow White explained.  
"You fussn't be mooled—uh, mustn't be fooled by them, princess," the first one told her.  
"Just go on an' git!" the mean one added irritably.  
"Please don't send them away," Snow White begged. "You see, they helped me when I was lost, and oh, so very frightened."  
"What happened?" I asked.  
"Well, I was picking flowers by the wood, and there was a stranger there," she explained. "He had a sword, but it was like a key—and then these monsters came and—"  
"A sword like a key…Terra!" Ven murmured in shock, and we looked at each other.  
"Ya mean this stranger saw ya and set his horde of evil demons after ya?" the first one asked.  
"Terra would never do that!" Ven protested, and I nodded.  
"Oh, of course. I'm sure he wouldn't. Not if he's someone who's your friend," Snow White agreed.  
"Princess! You trustn't be so musting—er, trusting," the first one protested.  
"He's a-lyin'! Mark my words!" the mean one exclaimed, and I bared my fangs at him.  
"We'll prove it!" I snarled, and we ran off. As we ran through the woods, we ran into a giant tree that came to life. Ven summoned his Keyblade, and my light glowed from my claws.  
"Back off!" Ven yelled, and we fought off the beast, defeating it. After we defeated the monster, we took off into the flower glade.  
"Terra!" we yelled, but no answer. We looked around, but didn't see any sign of him, either. "Aww." We looked down and saw an apple roll toward Ven's feet. Ven bent down while I perched on his shoulder and he picked it up. I saw an old woman in a black hooded cloak carrying a basket full of apples.  
"Excuse us, ma'am? You dropped this," I called to her, and we walked over and gave her the apple back.  
"Oh, why thank you, my pets," she told us. "To tell the truth, I really don't know what I would have done without that. Haven't I seen that sword before?"  
"Terra has one," I told her. "You know Terra?"  
"Oh, yes, yes…That ruffian pointed one of those at me, asking me about some 'Xehanort'—My poor heart nearly stopped," she answered.  
"That doesn't sound like him at all…Ma'am, where did Terra go?" Ven asked.  
"I'm sure I have no idea…Must you all menace a poor granny so?" she said.  
"What? No, we were just…" we tried to protest, but the old woman turned and walked away. "Terra, what did you do?"


	3. The Power Of Believing

A/N: Next chapter! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 3

The Power Of Believing

When we arrived in the next world, we ended up in a cage, but we were small, like the size of mice. At least Ven was. I was proportioned to still be able to perch on his shoulder.  
I folded my arms as Ven grabbed the bars of the cage and yelled, "Somebody tell us how we got so SMALL!" He sighed, and I sighed as well. A door opened, and I ducked behind Ven, clinging to his back out of fear. A young woman walked in and picked up the cage we were in, causing us to tumble to the back in the process. She opened the door to the cage.  
"Don't be afraid," she told us. "Oh! How interesting…I've never seen mice like you before."  
"Mice?" I repeated, confused.  
"Jaq, you better explain things to them," the woman told the mouse near her. She set the trap down and the mouse walked in.  
"Now, now, now. Look, little guys. Take it easy. Nothing to worry about. We like you. Cinderella likes you, too. She's nice, very nice. Come on, now. Zugk-zugk," he told us. We walked out of the trap, following the mouse.  
"My name is Jaq," the mouse told us.  
"I'm Ventus, and this is Kesshi. Call me Ven, though," Ven told them.  
"Okay, Ven and Kesshi. Need something? Ask Jaq!" Jaq told us cheerfully. Suddenly, a woman's voice called Cinderella.  
"Cinderella!" the voice yelled impatiently.  
"Oh well, time to get to my chores," she told us. "I'll see you in a little while, Ven and Kesshi." She left the room.  
"Wow, I guess she's got her hands full," I remarked.  
"Yep, work, work, work! Stepmother keeps Cinderella busy all day!" Jaq told us.  
"She didn't seem to mind much, though," Ven added.  
"No, not Cinderella. She works hard. She's got a dream—a big dream. The dream's gonna come true!" Jaq explained.  
"That sounds like somebody we know," Ven and I murmured, and we had a flashback to Terra saying, 'Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about.' We snapped back to the present, and looked to Jaq.  
"Hey, maybe you can help us find him! His name's Terra. You seen him?" Ven asked.  
"No. I never saw Terra before," Jaq told us, and I sighed.  
"Oh, well. It was worth a shot," Ven shrugged.  
"Come on. Follow me. You gotta see the house," Jaq urged, and he led us to a mouse hole in the wall.  
"H-hey!" I yelped, and we quickly followed him. We made our way to Cinderella's room, where we stood on the windowsill and stared at the castle in the distance.  
"What's that?" Ven asked.  
"That's the palace—the King's palace," Jaq answered. "There's going to be a big ball there tonight."  
"Is Cinderella going?" I asked.  
"I don't know…" Jaq murmured, looking concerned. Cinderella walked in at that moment, and she looked at us warmly.  
"Hello, you three. Have you become friends already?" she greeted. We nodded as she moved a dress mannequin. "Oh, that's wonderful." She started working on the dress.  
"You sure look happy, Cinderella," I commented as she worked.  
"Mm, I'm going to the royal ball tonight," she told us, and sighed happily. "I guess dreams really do come true."  
"Cinderella!" the stepmother's voice rang out.  
"My dress will have to wait," Cinderella sighed.  
"Cinderella!" another voice yelled.  
"Cinderella!" a third voice shrieked.  
"All right, all right, I'm coming!" Cinderella called back impatiently, and left the room.  
"Poor Cinderella…She's not going to the ball," Jaq murmured sadly.  
"Why not?" I asked, tilting my head to the side in confusion.  
"You'll see. They'll fix her. Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done," he said, and then his face lit up as he got an idea. "Say, I got an idea! Ven, Kesshi, will you help me?"  
"With what?" Ven questioned.  
"Fixing Cinderella's dress for the ball," he told us.  
"But what do we need to get?" I asked.  
"Look around the house," he said simply. "There are lots of pretty things."  
"Okay, let's do it," we agreed. "We'll go find whatever we need. Jaq, you get things set up here."  
"Okay!" Jaq said with a nod. We hopped off of the windowsill, and Jaq added, "Ven, Kesshi! Be careful of Lucifer!"  
"Lucifer?" Ven repeated, confused.  
"Lucifer is a cat!" Jaq told us. "He's mean…sneaky…He'll jump at you, bite at you!"  
"Gotcha," I said, and we left, finding some pretty things to put on the dress. Once finished, we returned to Cinderella's room.  
"It still needs a pretty pearl," Jaq murmured.  
"Leave it to us!" Ven assured him, and we left to find a pearl. When we found it, we were hiding behind a table leg. We spotted it, but it was near Lucifer.  
"Oh. There it is," I whispered. We quietly tip-toed over to Lucifer, and Ven waved his hand in front of him, making sure he was asleep. As he did that, I picked up the pearl, and we turned to tip-toe away.  
"Look out! Lucifer!" Jaq suddenly shouted from the top of a table. We looked to see the cat about to strike, but a ball of yarn hit him on top of the head. Jaq was throwing balls of yarn at Lucifer. "Hurry! Hurry Ven and Kesshi!" We took off running as Jaq threw more balls of yarn at Lucifer. The cat ran about, dodging the yarn, and then rammed into the table Jaq was standing on, knocking him onto the floor.  
"Ooh, that hurts…" Jaq groaned. Lucifer went to attack Jaq, but Ven and I swiftly blocked it, the blonde using his Keyblade and me using my tail.  
"Time to play, cat!" I hissed.  
"Ven! Kesshi!" Jaq gasped.  
"Take the pearl, Jaq. We'll hold him off. Run!" Ven ordered, and Jaq scrabbled to his feet.  
"Okay!" Jaq agreed, looking worried, but grabbed the pearl and ran for safety. Ven and I fought off Lucifer, and eventually beat the cat. As Lucifer ran off, Jaq approached us.  
"Oh, that's a big 'thank you'," he told us.  
"No thanks necessary," we assured him. "You saved us, so we saved you. That's what friends do, right?"  
"Yep! Ven, Kesshi, and Jaq are good friends!" Jaq agreed.  
"Now, let's get that dress finished," I said, and we left for the mouse hole. Later, Cinderella entered her room and walked to the window.  
"Oh, well…What's a royal ball?" she murmured. "After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull and boring…and completely…completely wonderful." She gazed at the castle.  
"Cinderella!" Ven and I called. She turned around as Jaq, Ven, and I opened the partition to reveal her completed dress.  
"Is that my dress?" she gasped.  
"Yes. It's a present from us," Ven told her. "Now you have a dress for the ball." She lowered her hands and picked us all up.  
"Why, it's…it's such a surprise…" she murmured happily.  
"Hurry! Time to go, Cinderella!" Jaq reminded her.  
"Oh, thank you," she told us gratefully. After she had left, the three of us sat at the windowsill, watching the castle.  
"I hope Cinderella's dream comes true," Jaq said. "What are your dreams, Ven and Kesshi?"  
"I wonder…" we murmured, and thought back to the flashback from before. We realized our dreams then. "Funny…we've never really thought about it—at least until you asked us. My dream is to become a Keyblade Master." He summoned his Keyblade.  
"Mine is to become a Light Master," I said.  
"I hope your dreams come true, too," Jaq told us, and Ven released his Keyblade.  
"We just need to keep on believing, right?" we said.  
"Right!" Jaq agreed, and we watched the castle.


	4. A Stolen Heart

A/N: New chappie! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 4

A Stolen Heart

We arrived in the next world safely, and this time we were our normal size again. We were in a castle, walking through a hallway. As we walked, we looked around, but didn't see any hint of Terra.  
"Still no sign of Terra," Ven sighed, and I whimpered slightly. We reached a door, and Ven opened it. We saw a woman fast asleep on a bed at the end of the room, and Ven tip-toed over to her. Suddenly, a voice snapped at us.  
"Stop, you get away from her!" the voice yelled at us, and we turned to see three fairies standing behind us. I hunkered down on Ven's shoulder.  
"Wha—Oh, I'm sorry," Ven apologized. "It's just, I've never seen anyone so beautiful." The one wearing red flew over and examined us.  
"Who are you?" she asked.  
"I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven. This is Kesshi," Ven said in introduction.  
"Oh…You both don't seem to be bad, dears," The one in green told us. "I'm certain you have pure hearts, just like our precious Aurora."  
"Can you tell us why she's sleeping?" I asked, shuffling slightly on my friend's shoulder.  
"Long ago, Maleficent cursed her," the red one answered. "Now she's stolen her heart."  
"Hm…Well then, why don't we go get it back for her?" Ven offered.  
"That's impossible, dears," the green one told us. "Maleficent's home is at the Forbidden Mountain. It's not safe."  
"We're not afraid," I assured them. "We can't just leave Aurora like this. We can help. You gotta believe us. C'mon, let's go get her heart!"  
"You know, you're absolutely right," the red one agreed. "The Forbidden Mountain is through the forest. Come along—follow us. After all, we wouldn't want you to get lost." We nodded and left for the forest, and learned the three fairies' names as we walked through: Flora, the one in red, Fauna, the one in green, and Merryweather, the one in blue. When we reached the edge of the forest at the entrance to the mountain, however, there was a barrier of green flames blocking our path to the Forbidden Mountain.  
"Looks like we're stuck," Ven remarked.  
"This must be Maleficent's doing," Flora murmured.  
"I know," Fauna agreed, and flew forward. She waved her wand, and the barrier of flames vanished. "Shall we?" We continued onward. We entered the castle and found some of her goons guarding the way into the throne room.  
"Careful, they're Maleficent's," Flora warned us.  
"Well, they ain't guardin' nothing," I muttered. They all looked sleepy, but Ven and I stepped out from hiding. "Ten-shun!" I barked, and they straightened up. "No sleeping on the job!" We charged at them and took them out, fighting them off. Once they were all gone and we had traversed through the maze of the castle, Ven and I found Aurora's heart, protected by a barrier of green flames. Ven pointed his Keyblade at it, and I fired a beam of light from my claws along with Ven's beam from his Keyblade. The heart was set free, and it returned to her body.  
"That should do it," Ven said, and suddenly, we experienced a memory from Aurora's heart.  
_"Don't you remember? We've met before," a man was saying to Aurora.  
"We…we have?" she said, confused.  
"Why of course. You said so yourself—once upon a dream," he replied. They walked over to a shade tree.  
"I never thought I would meet you—outside of my dreams, that is," she murmured.  
"Who are you? What's your name?" he asked her.  
"Hmm? Oh, my name…Why, it's…Oh, oh no, I can't…Good-bye," she said, and started to run off.  
"I must see you!" he called to her.  
"I don't know, maybe someday," she told him.  
"When? Tomorrow?" he asked.  
"Oh, no. This evening! At the cottage, in the glen," she replied, and it ended.  
_"What was that?" I asked.  
"Aurora's memory," Flora answered. "She must have gotten her heart back."  
"So her dream came true!" Ven assumed.  
"Yes, not long ago," Flora told us. "Dreams are very strong beliefs. Aurora's led her to her true love."  
"I see you both hold very strong beliefs, too. Don't you, dears?" Fauna asked us.  
"Yup," we answered simply.  
"You also have very strong light," Flora added.  
"Alright. Hurry, we can't stay here!" Merryweather reminded us, and we left. We ran into the throne room, where a dark woman blocked our path.  
"Someone had released Aurora's heart," she remarked as we approached. "Tell me, child and creature, was it you two?" I snarled when she called me a 'creature'.  
"Maleficent!" Flora gasped.  
"Only 'cause you stole it in the first place!" Ven snapped at her. He summoned his Keyblade and my light glowed in my claws as we struck at her. She disappeared in a burst of green flames, and we looked around for her.  
"A Keyblade and light…You must be Ventus and Kesshi," Maleficent remarked as we turned and saw her.  
"Huh? How do you know about us…and the Keyblade and light?" we demanded.  
"My powers ensure I'd know of the keys to bringing me hearts. Terra gave me a demonstration," she told us.  
"Terra? He was here?" Ven asked.  
"Why, yes. In fact, it was he who stole Princess Aurora's heart," she replied.  
"That's a lie!" I snarled, and we took a fighting stance, me jumping off from Ven's shoulder to fight.  
"I was asked to leave you both unharmed…but it seems I have no choice!" she said angrily, and the three fairies turned into orbs of light to help us. We fought against Maleficent, and soon won. After the fight, she walked back to the throne, injured.  
"There's no way Terra would hurt somebody like that!" Ven yelled at her.  
"You don't believe me? That's unfortunate, for he agreed so easily," Maleficent taunted.  
"He did?" we murmured, feeling uncertain.  
"Ven! Kesshi! Don't be fooled!" a voice yelled, and we looked and saw Aqua running towards us.  
"Aqua!" we gasped.  
She joined us and said, "Terra would never do that. You both know that as well as I do."  
"Yeah!" we agreed.  
"Ahh…The truth can be most cruel, even amongst the closest of friends," Maleficent remarked. "After all, one never knows the secrets of another's heart. I'm sure you'll agree…Ventus…Kesshi…Aqua."  
"The Master sent me," Aqua told us when Maleficent was gone. "Ven…Kesshi…let's go home."  
"But Terra…" we murmured.  
"Terra's not ready to leave yet," Aqua told us, and we had the flashback of the masked boy and creature in our room.  
_"Like right now?" they had said. "He's leaving you both behind. And by the time you catch up…he'll be a different person."_ The flashback ended, and we looked away from Aqua.  
"Sorry, Aqua. But we can't go with you," we told her. "It's just…we have to find him before it's too late!" We turned and ran off.  
"Ven! Kesshi!" she yelled after us. We took off, running through the castle.  
"Terra, where are you?" we murmured, and left the castle, and on to the next world.


	5. Keyblade, Light, & Darkness Wielders

A/N: Whoop! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 5

Keyblade, Light, & Darkness Wielders

We were traveling in the Lanes Between to go to the next world when the masked boy and his creature passed us.  
"Them again!" I yelped, and we flew after the pair. We landed in a place called the Badlands, where Ven jumped off of his Keyblade Glider and his armor vanished with the Glider. I landed on Ven's shoulder gracefully, and bristled with the feeling of danger.  
"Where are they hiding?" Ven wondered aloud, and then we turned and saw them. "All right! What did you mean about Terra being a different person?"  
"Exactly what we said, idiots," they sneered. "The Terra you know will be gone forever."  
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" I snarled.  
"Stupid, or true," they retorted, and the boy held out his hand, summoning a Keyblade. The creature on his shoulder glowed with darkness, and his claws were shrouded in it.  
"A Keyblade and darkness?" we said in confusion. Ven summoned his Keyblade, and my claws glowed with light in response. We each took a fighting stance, and I faced off against the boy's creature.  
"Good. Let's see what you're made of," they said, and the fight began. Ven and I fought as hard as we could, but we were both beaten and knocked back.  
"That's really all you got?" the creature taunted in disbelief. "Man, you're both worthless. We'd be going against the Master's orders, but so what? As far as we're concerned, your jobs here are done." They charged up an attack, and fired it at us as we lay on the ground, helpless. We were pulled out of the way in time, and the next thing we knew, we were away from the explosion, behind the masked boy and his creature.  
"Don't worry!" the person who saved us said. "You're safe." The boy and his creature turned and saw us. The person who saved us held his arm back, summoning a Keyblade, and used healing magic on us. "Heal!" We felt better instantly, and we looked at the pair before us. "Tell me where you got that! Keyblades are not something you use just to bully somebody around! Here, I'll show ya!"  
"We all will!" Ven and I chimed in, and we all three took on the pair. We fought, and thanks to our new friend, we beat them. They lay on the ground, and then spun around on their hands and got back up.  
"Hmph, you win," they said, and opened a dark portal. "Consider yourselves on probation." They backed through the portal and vanished. Ven released his Keyblade, and the light in my claws faded as I jumped on his shoulder.  
"Probation for what?" I wondered as the portal closed behind them, and we turned to face our friend. "Thanks for before, we owe ya. The name's Kesshi, and this is Ventus. What's yours?"  
"I'm Mickey," he said with a small smile.  
"We see you've got a Keyblade," Ven observed.  
"Yep. I've been trainin' under the great Yen Sid," Mickey told us, and released his Keyblade, too. "He found out the worlds are in trouble, an' I sorta took off without tellin' him."  
"Well, that makes three of us," I told him. "We ran off, too."  
"All I hafta do is think, and the Star Shard will take me anywhere I wanna go," Mickey told us, and pulled out a blue and green star-shaped object. "At least I thought it would. I haven't quite got the fine points down, like…when, or where…It just kinda kicks in whenever it wants to. But I wouldn't have met you two if it hadn't brought me here." We laughed, and he continued. "Ya know, it might not be an accident. Maybe it starts workin' 'cause it's reactin' to something'."  
"Huh?" we said, and the Star Shard began to glow brightly.


	6. Meetings & Partings

A/N: Lea is in this one! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 6

Meetings & Partings

We woke up, Ven in his armor, floating near a world, so we decided to land. We looked around, and saw Mickey walk into town.  
"Mickey?" Ven said curiously, and we ran after him. We ran up some stairs, looked around, and ran to the castle gates, where two guards stood. When we got near, they held out their weapons and blocked our path.  
"Hold on," one of them said.  
"The castle is presently closed," the other one told us.  
"But somebody just came this way! He's a friend of ours," I said, and the pair looked at each other.  
"We aren't aware of any visitors," the first one replied. "Now run along home, boy and creature, before the monsters get you."  
"I coulda sworn it was him," Ven told me as we turned to leave. Suddenly, a large Unversed appeared at the stairs.  
"They're here!" the second guard shouted.  
"Radiant Garden shall not fall under the likes of you," the first guard snapped angrily, and they started running to the Unversed to dispose of it when Ven and I charged ahead of them.  
"Leave this to us!" I yelled.  
"Stop!" the second guard called after us.  
"But you're just children!" the first one added. We chased the Unversed to the town square, and heard someone yelling at it.  
"Ach! How dare ye?! Back off, ye fiend!" the person, a duck, yelled at it. It was trying to attack him. "Ye'll not be gettin' my money!" Ven threw his Keyblade, and I shot a jet of white flame at it, causing it to flee. We started to chase it, but the duck stopped us. "Hold on…Wait a moment, laddies," he said, and as we paused, the Unversed escaped. "Don't I even get a chance to repay ye?"  
"Oh, you don't have to," we assured him, and turned to try and go after the Unversed again.  
"Now, just hold yer horses," the duck told us. "I dinna mean me fortune. Maybe a wee bit o' gold, or a small token of…"  
"Well, could ya make it fast?" Ven said impatiently.  
"I know—I've just the thing in me hat!" the duck said, and took of his hat with a laugh. "C'mere." Ven and I quickly went over to him, and bent down. The duck put his hat next to his bill so that it was a private conversation. "Ye can tell me, lads. You came here from another world, didn't ye?" We gasped, and glanced at each other. "Dinna worry. Me bill is sealed. Yer secret's safe with me. I'll not be askin' ye any awkward questions. Ye see, 'tis the same with me. I asked a wizard named Merlin to bring me here from another world. After all, adventure is the mother of industry!" he said, and laughed.  
"Great! That all?" I asked impatiently.  
"Ach, but I'm holding ye up, lads. Here. These are lifetime passes to Disney Town," he told us, and pulled four tickets out of his hat. Ye'll have buckets o' fun there, or my name is not Scrooge McDuck. There y'are—enough for you two and two grown-ups." We took the tickets, looked at them, and then took off after the Unversed. We ran through the town, chasing after the Unversed, and eventually ended up at its center. We saw Terra there, and Aqua running toward him.  
"Ven! Kesshi!" they yelled as we joined them.  
"Terra! Aqua!" we cried out, and my friends summoned their Keyblades as three large Unversed joined together to create a giant Unversed. Light glowed from my body as I reacted to the three Keyblades.  
"Terra!" Aqua yelled.  
"Ven! Kesshi! Now!" Terra shouted.  
"C'mon!" Ven and I cried out, and we all four leapt into the air. Aqua struck first, followed by Terra, Ven, and me striking the Unversed together. Once it had faded away, we looked at each other.  
"Got 'im," Terra said.  
"We make a good team," Aqua added.  
"Sure do," I agreed. "Oh yeah! We got you these tickets." Ven pulled out the four tickets that Scrooge had given us earlier, and gave one each to Terra and Aqua.  
"For what?" Terra asked.  
"Lifetime passes to Disney Town," Ven told them. "He said to—He said to take two grown-ups."  
"You mean us?" Aqua asked, and she and Terra laughed. "Listen to me, Ven and Kesshi…We need to get you both home—"  
"It's okay, Aqua," we assured her. "Trust us, those guys in the masks are history. They'll never bad-mouth Terra again." Terra gasped and grabbed Ven by the shoulder.  
"You saw the boy and creature in the masks?" he demanded of us.  
"Y-yes?" we stammered.  
"Vanitas and Kasshitas…Ven, Kesshi. You let Aqua take you home," he ordered us.  
"No way," we argued. "We wanna go with you guys."  
"You can't. We have a dangerous task ahead of us. I don't want you to get hurt," Terra said firmly.  
"And what is this dangerous task, Terra?" Aqua demanded. "It doesn't sound like what the Master told you to do."  
"It might be a different route, but I'm fighting the darkness," Terra told her.  
"I'm not so sure. I've been to the same worlds as you and I've seen what you've done," she told him. "You shouldn't put yourself so close to the darkness."  
"Listen to yourself, Aqua," I snapped at her. "Terra would never—"  
"You mean you've been spying on me? Is that what he said to do?" Terra demanded in disbelief. "The Master's orders?"  
"He was only—" Aqua tried to protest, but stopped.  
"Aqua…" Ven and I murmured after a short moment of silence.  
"I get it," Terra said coldly, and turned to leave.  
"Terra!" Ven cried out, and he stopped.  
"Just stay put! I'm on my own now, all right?" Terra snapped at us, and started walking away again.  
"Terra, please! Listen! The Master has no reason to distrust you, really! He was just worried," Aqua called after him, but he left.  
"You're awful, Aqua," I growled.  
"So now you know the truth," she murmured. "But the Master loves Terra, and you know that, too."  
"Were you also 'ordered' to take us home?" Ven demanded. She didn't answer, and after a moment, he added, "Aqua…Now that you're a Keyblade Master, you've let it go to your head. We're gonna go find Terra." We ran after Terra in the direction he had gone. We ran into the town square and saw a boy with silver hair in a lab coat being attacked by Unversed.  
"Run!" I yelled to him, and Ven summoned his Keyblade, and light glowed in my claws. The boy fled, and we took down the Unversed. Afterwards, a man came out from the castle.  
"Ienzo, where are you? Answer me," he called out. The boy we had saved came out from behind us, and the man said, "Ah, there you are. Didn't I warn you not to wander off, child?" He turned to face us. "I see we owe you our thanks. We have done our best to raise the boy…since his poor parents are not here to do it."  
"Oh. You're on your own, huh?" Ven said. "Sir, we're looking for a friend of ours. He's a tall guy dressed kinda like me—have you seen him?"  
"Hmm…Perhaps I did see him in the Outer Gardens," he told us. "Just follow this road."  
"Thank you," I told him.  
"No, thank you, for keeping Ienzo out of harm's way," he replied. "And….Well, let's say I have a feeling we are destined to cross paths again." We watched him curiously as the pair walked away. We ran through the Outer Garden where we spotted Terra.  
"Terra!" we called out to him, and ran over. "Take us with you!"  
"I can't do that, Ven and Kesshi," he told us firmly.  
"Why not?" Ven asked.  
"I just—When I really need you, Ven and Kesshi, I know you'll both be there," he told us, and we smiled and laughed.  
"Well, why wouldn't we? You're our friend," I said.  
"Yeah. You're right. Thanks, Ven, Kesshi," he told us, and then tapped the guard on his left shoulder, making his armor appear. He hopped onto his Keyblade Glider and flew off into a portal into the Lanes Between. We heard Terra's words echo in our minds, _'I just—When I really need you, Ven and Kesshi, I know you'll both be there.'  
_"We'd better tell Aqua," I murmured to my friend, and we left back to find her. Once in the town square, we ran over to her. "Aqua!"  
"Ven, Kesshi. Were you able to find him?" she asked.  
"Yeah, but…He's gone," Ven told her. There was a long pause.  
"Then I can't stay here," she murmured.  
"Let us go with you, Aqua," Ven said.  
"No, Ven and Kesshi. Do as I say and go home," she ordered.  
"Why won't you let us?" I asked as we hung our heads sadly.  
"I don't want to put you in harm's way," she told us simply, and placed her hands on our shoulders. "You understand?" She donned her armor and left, leaving us to think for a while. We sat down, and Ven pulled out Terra's wooden Keyblade. We stared at it for a while, and then I watched Ven as he started to flip it. After a few successful flips, he accidentally dropped it. A redheaded boy and a blunette boy passed by, but the redhead paused and picked up the wooden Keyblade.  
"This yours?" he asked Ven, and he nodded.  
"Lea, we don't have time for this," the blunette said.  
"Lighten up, Isa. It'll only take a sec," the red headed boy told him lightly. He walked toward us, flipping the wooden Keyblade in his hand. "You still play with toy swords? That's cute." He offered the Keyblade to Ven, and then dropped it and reached for his pocket. "Now this right here-" He pulled out two frisbees. "Tada! Whaddya think?"  
"Not a whole lot," I replied evenly.  
"You're just jealous. I'm Lea. Got it memorized? What're your names?" he said.  
"Ventus and Kesshi," Ven told him.  
"Okay, Ventus and Kesshi. Let's fight!" Lea said suddenly.  
"Fight? Why would we wanna do that?" I asked.  
"You scared of losing? C'mon," he teased, and hopped back a few paces. "Hope you're ready." After a moment, Ven stood, and I sat back on the rocks. He picked up the wooden Keyblade, and Lea crowed, "Yeah! Now we're talkin'."  
"You're gonna be sorry," I said, and Isa laughed. The two fought and Ven came out the victor. Lea fell back, exhausted.  
"You…had enough?" he panted. "'Cause I'm willing…to call it a draw if you are."  
"Huh?" Ven said, confused, and then laughed. "Right…"  
"From where I stood, the only thing you drew was a big 'L' on your forehead for 'Loser'…'Lame,' 'Laughable'…" Isa remarked.  
"Wha—Isn't this the part where ya…cheer me up or somethin'?" Lea asked in disbelief, still out of breath. "'You're just havin' a bad day.' Or…'That's what you get for pullin' your punches!' Some friend."  
"Oh, you mean I was supposed to lie," Isa teased.  
"Ya see what I gotta put up with?" Lea asked, looking at us. "Sure hope you don't have friends like him."  
"Huh?" Ven and I said, and all four of us laughed.  
"Lea, we have to go," Isa reminded his friend.  
"'Kay," Lea said, and got up as Isa turned to leave.  
"Already?" I asked, surprised.  
"I'll see ya when I see ya," Lea assured us. "After all, we're friends now. Get it memorized."  
"Okay, Lea," Ven said, and we waved them a farewell as they walked away.  
"Must be nice…knowin' who your friends are," we murmured as they left.


	7. The Dream Festival

A/N: Last update for the night, everyone! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 7

The Dream Festival

We walked into Disney Town, where we were greeted by a large fellow in a bright costume.  
"Tada! Wearin' the mask of peace and hope…comes the fearless defender of this town! It is me—Captain Justice!" he said enthusiastically.  
"Huh? Umm…" we said, and I hunkered down on Ven's shoulder, getting weirded out by the guy.  
"Young fellows! Do my hero-senses detect that you got troubles?" he asked. "Just say the word, and Captain Justice will make all your problems disappear!"  
"Wh-who, us? We're just trying to make some friends—Never mind, forget it," Ven stammered.  
"Don't be intimidated by my magnificence," he told us. "Go on and spit it out. Then…remember to vote Captain J."  
"Vote?" I said, confused, and I tilted my head to the side.  
"Oh! Well, uh, forget that," he said, looking regretful. "How can I help? That's the only reason I'm here."  
"Hmm…I know! Tell us about your town," Ven suggested. "Everything's so festive. Is it always like this?"  
"Huh? That's it—nothin' else?" he said, seeming slightly disappointed. "Well, the festivities are on account of the Dream Festival—which is why I made sure there's carnival stuff all over town."  
"Really? Like what?" I asked.  
"Ho ho, you gotta see it for yourselves," he chuckled. "Wouldn't be much of a dream if I just told ya."  
"Right. Thanks," Ven told him.  
"And kids, don't you go forgettin'…Captain Justice is the one who solved all your problems. That would be Justice with a J," he said, and I thought to myself, _'More like Captain Fruitcake'.  
_"Uh, sure. We got it, Captain Justice," I said, getting uncomfortable.  
"Aw, phooey! This stinks! Now we can't open the ice cream shop!" someone said, and Ven and I saw three young ducks and a mouse that were standing by some kind of machine.  
"Trouble? Rescue is on the way!" Captain Justice cried out, and ran to them.  
"A festival, huh?" Ven said to me, and we looked at each other. "Well, maybe we can make some new friends." We walked over to the five at the machine, and Captain Justice looked at us.  
"Well, if it ain't the last kids I saved," he said as we joined them. "'Fraid you'll have to get in line. I'm working on another catastrophe here for these fellas—Huey, Dewey, and Louie, my good friends."  
"Now, I'd hardly call it a catastrophe," the mouse said dismissively.  
"Yeah, all we were tryin' to do was make our own special recipe ice cream," Huey agreed.  
"And we had a little trouble," Dewey added.  
"Come on, it's not really that big a deal," Louie chimed in.  
"I'm 100% you're the victims of sabotage!" Captain Justice declared.  
"Not even close! Quit making stuff up," Dewey snapped at him.  
"It's just the ice cream machine," Louie said.  
"Uncle Scrooge left it for us…but we can't figure out how it works 'cause it's so complicated," Huey added.  
"Aw, we're sorry, Queen Minnie," Dewey apologized. "We wanted you to be the first to try our special ice cream recipe."  
"Oh boys, it was very sweet of you to think of me," Minnie told them.  
"We tried," Louie said.  
"Say no more. Leave it to me—one bowl of ice cream comin' right up!" Captain Justice declared.  
"You're just gonna make a mess," Dewey snapped at him. "Leave it alone, Pete!"  
"That's Captain Justice!" Captain Justice snapped back, but there was ice cream all over the stage. "This machine is busted. It just needs a good poundin'…" He started to hit to ice cream machine.  
"It does not!" Minnie protested.  
"Hey, do you think we could give it a shot?" I asked, and we stepped closer.  
"No, if Captain Justice can't fix it, there ain't nothin' you can do, kids," he replied.  
"Maybe not, but there's no harm in trying," Ven argued.  
"Yeah! And better you two than him," Huey agreed. "Here ya go. These are the directions for the machine." We fixed the ice cream machine, and once finished, they all enjoyed some ice cream.  
"Mmm, how yummy," Minnie said as she ate some. "What a wonderful treat! I don't think I've ever had such delicious ice cream. Thank you—uh, oh, oh dear…"  
"Oh, Ventus and Kesshi," Ven told her. "But for me, just Ven is fine."  
"Well, thank you, Ventus and Kesshi," Minnie said gratefully.  
"Way to go, Ven and Kesshi!" Huey cheered.  
"I see…we had to push this thingamajig the other way," Louie said to himself.  
"Hey, I just got an idea!" Dewey said suddenly. "We could let our customers make up their own favorite flavors of ice cream!"  
"Not with that machine!" Captain Justice said. "Well…the kids mighta got it to work this one time. But junk like that needs to get junked!"  
"Don't you dare, Pete!" Minnie scolded.  
"Fine. But Captain Justice will return!" he declared, and ran off.  
"About 'Captain Justice'—you said his name is Pete?" I asked.  
"Yeah, he's the biggest troublemaker in town!" Huey told us.  
"I bet he's just callin' himself Captain Justice 'cause he wants to win the Million Dreams Award," Dewey guessed.  
"What's the Million Dreams Award?" Ven asked.  
"That's one of the Dream Festival Events," Minnie explained. "Everyone votes for who they think is the town's most exemplary citizen."  
"We get it. So that's what he meant by 'vote'," I said.  
"And if ya win the award, ya get a really cool prize!" Louie added.  
"Oh, it's just a small token, nothing elaborate," Minnie said dismissively. "The event is supposed to help us appreciate how much we all look out for each other every day. That's the spirit of the award."  
"Well, that sounds nice enough…" Ven murmured.  
"Pete just wants to get his grubby hands on the prize," Huey said.  
"And he knows that nobody's gonna vote for him if he puts his own name on the ballot!" Dewey added.  
"But nobody's fooled!" Louie chimed in.  
"Yeah!" Huey and Dewey agreed, and the three young ducks laughed.  
"Wish somebody was lookin' out for us," Ven and I murmured.


	8. What Makes A Hero

A/N: Sorry about the delay, here's Axel's number for the chapter! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 8

What Makes A Hero

Ven and I were walking through the next world when a strange creature that looked to be half man, half goat, ran past us and toward a wall.  
"Huh?" I said.  
"Oy, the kid's relentless!" the guy exclaimed as he ran to the wall, and we approached him.  
"Hey, whatcha doin' there?" Ven asked as we approached, and the guy jumped in shocked and screamed.  
"I told ya, I'm booked solid. N-O spells forget it!" his snapped at us, but when he looked at us, he didn't recognize us. "Huh? And who in Halicarnassus are you? Can't you see I'm busy?"  
"Hey, Phil! I'm all signed up! Phil!" a boy called out to him as he ran over.  
"All right, Herc, I hear ya! Now would ya keep it down already?" the guy, named Phil, snapped at the boy. Suddenly, a soldier appeared in the area.  
"Aha!" he said, and ran toward them.  
"Beautiful…You happy now? You blew my cover!" Phil snapped at the boy again.  
"Okay, 'fess up! I asked around, and everybody says you're the guy! The trainer of heroes!" the soldier accused Phil.  
"True heroes!" the boy corrected.  
"Really? You can teach that?" Ven asked, surprised.  
"'Course he can," the soldier told us, and turned back to Phil. "C'mon, Phil, please. I really wanna be a hero."  
"Look, we've been through this…I got two words for you—student-teacher ratio!" Phil told him, and Ven counted on his fingers.  
"One, two…Um?" he said, and I snickered.  
"I already got my hands full with this one," Phil added. "C'mon, Herc." The boy and Phil started to walk away.  
"I'm low-maintenance, I swear!" the soldier cried out after them.  
Suddenly, Unversed appeared in front of Herc and Phil, and I snarled, "Unversed!"  
"Monsters, huh…Hey, Phil! Watch this! I'll show ya what I'm made of," the soldier yelled, and Ven and I dashed after him.  
"And I'll help, too!" Herc said eagerly, and we all four fought the Unversed. Ventus and I destroyed a pair, the soldier another, and Herc slightly lost his balance, and then destroyed the last one. Phil watched us, and then pondered something. After a moment, he spoke.  
"Okay…Change of plans," he said. "The Games are comin' up. So, I'm gonna watch both of your matches…then I'll decide which of you rookies I wanna train."  
"Sweet! Thank you, thank you!" the soldier cried out gratefully. "I'm gonna go sign up right now." With that, he ran off to the Coliseum.  
"The Games, huh?" I said. "Sounds fun!" We started towards the Coliseum, but Phil stopped us.  
"Sorry kids, but Captain Eager there just took the last spot," he told us. Ven looked down, disappointed, and I whimpered slightly.  
"I don't understand!" Herc cried out, confused. "Phil, I thought you were my trainer!"  
"You wanna be a true hero, Herc?" Phil asked him. "Then you're gonna hafta go out there and show me that everything I've taught you so far is gonna pay off." He started walking towards the Coliseum.  
"But Phil…" Herc said.  
"Oh…and no more trainin' sessions for a while," he added. "Wouldn't be fair if I helped you and not him." Herc looked down, disappointed.  
"Hey, cheer up!" I told him, shifting slightly on Ven's shoulder. "So you gotta fight a couple of matches, no big deal. I'm Kesshi, and this is Ventus. Want us to help you train?"  
"You'd really do that for me?" he asked.  
"Sure," I said with a shrug.  
"Thanks, Ventus and Kesshi. I'm Hercules. Herc for short," he told us.  
"Just call me Ven," Ven told him. "You're gonna do fine." Ven shook hands with our new friend.  
"Thanks. I'm gonna head over to the Coliseum and warm up," Herc told us. "Meet me in the vestibule, okay?" We headed over to the vestibule, and after we had finished training with Herc, we walked through the vestibule later when we asked him a question.  
"You want to become a true hero, huh?" I asked, and he stopped and turned to face us.  
"More than anything," he said. "See, my father is Zeus, the king of the gods on Olympus."  
"Whoa! Herc, you're a god?" Ven yelped in surprise.  
"No, no. I'm mortal. When I was a baby, somebody stole me from my parents, and…figured out how to take away my godhood," he explained.  
"And this true hero thing?" I pressed.  
"It's the only way I can become a god again," he answered. "If I become a true hero, I can rejoin my father and go back to Olympus."  
"Wow…I guess you really got your work cut out for you!" Ven guessed.  
"But what about you two? How come you're here?" Herc asked.  
"We're…we're just trying to make some friends," I stammered.  
"Well, hey! You've done that already," Herc told us.  
"Huh?" we said, confused.  
"C'mon, we're friends, aren't we?" he pointed out.  
"You bet, Herc," we told him. The soldier entered the vestibule from town, and we all gathered around Phil.  
"All right, you bunch of rookies," he said. "It's time we go over the rules of the Games, so listen up. All the matches are divided up into two brackets—one for the East and one for the West. The winners from each bracket go head-to-head in the championship match. Now, I signed you two up for the West…'cause they already got a heavy-hittin' contender cleanin' up over there in the East bracket. And if you wanna beat him, you're gonna hafta hustle in there. Now move those sandals." Herc, the soldier, and Phil entered the Coliseum.  
"Heavy-hitting contender?" I said curiously.  
"Ven! Kesshi! Come on!" Herc called, and we looked up.  
"Oh. Okay!" Ven said, and we quickly followed after them. During the Games, we watched as Herc and the soldier took down several Unversed, and once the matches were done, Herc was talking to Phil as we approached.  
"Guess we made it," I said.  
"Yeah. And it's all thanks to you both, Ven and Kesshi," Herc said gratefully.  
"Good! The other kid'll be happy to hear that," Phil snapped.  
"No! I need you most of all, Phil! How else am I gonna become a hero?" Herc protested.  
"Hmph! 'Bout time ya got it!" Phil said grumpily, and walked away as the soldier ran over to us.  
"Whoever wins, no hard feelings," he said to Herc, and they shook hands.  
"Course not. Holdin' a grudge wouldn't be very heroic," Herc replied.  
"Hey, just making sure. You're not a hero yet," the soldier told him.  
"True," Herc agreed with a laugh. They entered the arena and prepared for the match. Herc charged at the soldier and tried to hit him, but he jumped back. He then jumped toward Herc to attack him. Ven and I watched from the stands.  
"This is really close," Ven murmured, and I nodded seriously as we remembered Terra and Aqua sparring.  
"Hey! We got trouble!" Phil yelled suddenly. "There's monsters loose in town and if they gate-crash the Games, you can forget about the match."  
"Real monsters?" Herc asked.  
"We have to stop 'em," the soldier said.  
"Leave the monsters to us," I said. "This match is too important!" We ran off into town. In town, we found a few Unversed.  
"You won't get past us!" Ven yelled at them as I growled. "Huh?!" Suddenly, a lot more Unversed appeared, and Herc came running up.  
"Herc! What about your match?" I yelped.  
"Forget the match," Herc said dismissively. "No way I could let my friends fight alone. 'Cause I'm a hero! I mean, ya know…I'm gonna be one. Come on, let's finish this together!" We fought off the Unversed, and afterwards, we regrouped.  
"Sorry that we made you lose that match, Herc," Ven apologized.  
"Aw, come on, you don't have to apologize," Herc assured us. "It was totally my decision." Suddenly, an Unversed moved in to attack Herc, but the soldier took it down.  
"What, you didn't save any for me?" he demanded.  
"Hey, you're here?" Herc asked in surprise.  
"Hey, I've got my sights set on being a hero, too," he replied. "I just don't run as fast, that's all."  
"So you both threw the match? Who won, then?" I wondered.  
"I left first, so it's not me," Herc admitted.  
"Yeah, but I was only seconds behind you," the soldier argued.  
"Still," Herc pressed.  
"Hey! I never said I'd coach the winner," Phil said as he joined us. "All I said was I'd see the match, then decide. Look, bein' a hero takes more than just muscle. Ya gotta have heart and care about people. And sure, you both get high marks for that. But this time, only one of you cared fast enough—and that makes all the difference."  
"Then that means…" Ven started.  
"Oh, man, I was this close!" the soldier groaned. "Well, that's life. I never really introduced myself." He took off his helmet. "The name's Zack. Congratulations, Herc."  
"Thanks, Zack," Herc told him.  
"Yeah well, we'll see if you're still thankin' him when I'm through with ya," Phil warned. "You got a long road ahead of ya, champ."  
"Hey—don't count me out," Zack protested, and started doing squats. "I've still got plenty of big dreams to go with my lousy luck!" He and Herc started laughing as we approached Phil.  
"Okay, be honest…You weren't really gonna stop training Herc, were you?" I asked.  
"Of course not," Phil admitted. "I know that kid's gonna go the distance. But he was stuck in a rut. He just needed a little incentive. It's Ventus and Kesshi, right? Well, thanks to you two, Herc here has really shaped up. I owe ya."  
"Nah, we're glad," Ven told him. "We made a really good friend. Somebody to share a laugh with. Like Terra and Aqua…We'll patch things up." We turned to leave, and they looked at us, surprised.  
"You're leaving?" Herc asked.  
"Yeah. Our journey's not over yet," we said.  
"But you'll visit, right?" he pressed.  
"We'll stop by once you're a true hero," Ven told him.  
"Stop by once me and him are both heroes!" Zack chimed in.  
"Oh, so you mean never come back?" I teased.  
"Hey, watch it!" he replied, and we all laughed.


	9. The Wayfinder

A/N: And now for the next update! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 9

The Wayfinder

As we traveled through the Lanes Between, a giant Unversed shot past us. I yelped as it tried to knock Ven off his Keyblade Glider, and he clung to it.  
"Whoa! Unversed!" he gasped. It flew past us again, trying to knock him off from his Glider again. "Try that again," Ven threatened it as it approached. We fought it, but once we thought it was beaten, it fled to a large spaceship that was in the area. We chased after it.  
"Tryin' to catch a ride, huh?" I growled, and we hurried after.  
We walked into the transport room when a large whale-like alien confronted us, pointing a gun right at us.  
"So you're the intruders," he sneered. "Identify yourselves."  
"Our names are Ventus and Kesshi," I said. "The monster we were chasing boarded your ship."  
"Nice try. If there was another intruder aboard, we'd have detected it," the alien snapped. Suddenly, the ship shook and alarms went off.  
"Intruder in the machinery bay! We lost control of the engines!" the voice over the intercom shouted. "I-it's some kind of monster!"  
"Now you tell me!" the alien groaned, and turned to leave. "Stay right there! I have lots of unpleasant questions to ask you." He then left.  
"This is our fault. We have to do something," Ven said, and I nodded in agreement. We started to leave the room, but a little blue creature, smaller than me, dropped down from the ceiling and landed in front of us.  
"Ven…? Kesshi…? Terra…Ah-koo, wa…" the creature said.  
"What? You know Terra and Aqua?" Ven demanded, and the creature pulled out a star-shaped object that looked like he had made it.  
"Fren…Circle!" the creature said.  
"Hey…is that a Wayfinder?" I asked, and he nodded. The ship shook again, this time more violently.  
"The engines are under too much stress," the voice on the intercom said. "We're risking an explosion!"  
"What are we doing? There's no time!" Ven said, and we started to leave, but the creature started to follow. "No! You need to stay here. It's too dangerous." We ran out of the room, making our way to the engine room. Once there, we saw the giant Unversed circling the power core.  
"End of the line!" I yelled, and we prepared to fight the beast when the blue creature blasted through the ceiling and landed next to us. "Hey! You shouldn't be here." He growled a series of sounds that sounded like he was trying to speak. "What is it?" He spoke again, and we took on the Unversed. After the fight, the creature started freaking out.  
"It's over! Cut it out!" Ven told him, and tried to calm down the little guy, but was knocked over in the process. "Whoa!" Suddenly, the little guy calmed down.  
"What's gotten into you?" I asked, and he turned around, holding his broken Wayfinder. "I see…Your Wayfinder broke. Well, don't worry. Friendship's more than an object."  
"Fren-ship…Cir…cle?" the creature said, and we nodded.  
"Hmph, don't let the little mimic fool you," the whale-like alien from before snapped at us. "You saw for yourselves what kind of monster that thing is. All it knows how to do is hurt and destroy."  
"Monster? He helped us stop the monster!" Ven protested.  
"You must have triggered some sort of mutation…hidden in the little freak's genetic coding," the alien replied.  
"Ven. Kesshi. Fren!" the creature snapped at him.  
"That's right. We are friends!" I growled.  
"Better say your good-byes now, because 626 is about to be destroyed!" the alien threatened, but the creature jumped onto the alien's face. "Stop that!" The creature pulled the alien down and growled at him.  
"C'mon," Ven told him, and we took off running.  
"Sound the alert! Prisoners on the loose! Don't let them get away!" the alien yelled, but we kept on running. We soon were flying out of the ship, Ven on his Keyblade Glider and the creature in a red police cruiser. Lasers flew past us, coming from the blue police cruisers that were chasing us. The creature laughed and honked the horn.  
"Where are we going?" I yelled, and he pulled a knob up on the cruiser.  
"Hyperdrive has been activated. System charging. Warning. Guidance is not functional. Navigation failure. Do not engage hyperdrive," a computer's voice said from the cruiser. "Repeat. Do not engage—" The creature pushed the knob back down, and we realized we were surrounded.  
"Break formation! Get clear!" one of the officers yelled, and the policemen scattered. The creature looked like he was trying to warn us, but we couldn't understand.  
"What is it? What's going on?" Ven yelled to him. The creature mumbled some more, and then the cruiser shot off. "Whoa!"  
"Ven! Kesshi!" he cried out as the ripples from the hyperdrive sent us screaming through space.


	10. In Search Of A Shooting Star

A/N: And now for the next chappie! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi & Kasshitas.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 10

In Search Of A Shooting Star

We opened our eyes when we woke up, and saw a little fairy in green in front of us. Suddenly, we heard a voice.  
"Let's try kickin' them!" the voice said, and the little green fairy lifted her leg to kick us. I jumped up, but she still kicked Ven, rolling him over and sending her rolling through the air. We sat up to see two boys in front of us with the fairy. One was dressed in a fox outfit, and the other in a bear outfit. "Who are you?" the boy in the fox costume asked, and we stood up, me jumping onto Ven's shoulder.  
"Name's are Ventus and Kesshi. But everybody just calls me Ven," Ven told them. "Hmm…Guess, when we sat down to rest, we must've fallen asleep."  
"But where'd ya come from?" the boy in the bear outfit asked.  
"Well, you see…" I started, but the fairy interrupted, tugging on the ear of the boy's fox costume."  
"All right, all right, we're goin'!" the boy snapped at her.  
"So long, Ven and Kesshi!" the boy in the bear outfit said, and the boys started to leave with the fairy.  
"Hey, where are you guys off to?" Ven asked.  
"Tink saw a shootin' star and we're gonna go hunt it down!" the bear kid said excitedly.  
"A shooting star? Mind if we come along?" I asked eagerly.  
"'Course not. But ya gotta agree to follow us!" the fox boy said.  
"Yeah, it's, uh…right over…That-a way! By the Indian Camp!" the bear boy declared.  
"Ready, men? Forward, march!" the fox boy ordered.  
"'Kay," Ven said, and we left for the Indian Camp. As we walked, we learned that the two boys were named Slightly and Cubby. We walked out of the jungle into a clearing with a hollow tree in the middle when we heard a crowing sound. Ven and I looked around and saw a boy in green flying overhead.  
"Peter Pan!" the boys cried out happily, and Peter flew down and slowly passed by us.  
"Who do we have here? Never seen you two before," he said.  
"I'm Kesshi, and this is Ventus. Call him Ven," I said, and Peter landed.  
"Well…if you say so," he said, seeming doubtful, and he walked over to the two boys.  
"Ten-shun! Now then, men. I don't suppose you'd wanna capture some real pirate treasure?" he asked them.  
"Real pirate treasure?!" Cubby gasped.  
"Sure!" Slightly said eagerly.  
"Well, guess who caught sight of Hook right when he was stashing his treasure?" Peter said. "Whaddya say we sneak in and grab it?"  
"Oh boy!" Cubby cheered.  
"Let's go! Let's go!" Slightly added, but the fairy kicked them each in the back of the head.  
"Ow!" they both yelped. She flew over to Peter and bounced up and down in front of him trying to get his attention.  
"Tinker Bell, what's gotten into you?" he asked her.  
"We were all supposed to go hunt for a shooting star together," Ven explained.  
"Forget that. Pirate treasure is way more fun," Peter replied. "Tink, you're comin' with us!" Instead, she got upset and flew away from him. "Well, that's no way to respond to an invitation. C'mon, Ven, Kesshi, you're both better sports than her, right?"  
"We'd love to join you, but…first we wanna find the shooting star," I told him, and he looked surprised as we left in the direction Tinker Bell had gone. We walked into the Indian Camp when I spotted something on the ground. I got Ven's attention, and he saw it, too.  
"Mickey's Star Shard?" he said curiously, and we heard laughter nearby. We looked and saw a pirate captain holding Tinker Bell in his right hand and Mickey's Star Shard in a hook where his left hand should have been.  
"A shooting star and a pixie! Must be me birthday," he laughed.  
"Let Tinker Bell go!" I snarled, and Ven summoned his Keyblade.  
"Ha! Two of Peter Pan's brats," the pirate captain sneered. "Well, tell that cowardly sparrow…if he wants his precious Tinker Bell back, he'd best meet me at mermaid lagoon!" And with that, the pirate captain and his companion fled with Tinker Bell and the Star Shard.  
"Stop!" Ven yelled, but we were suddenly surrounded by Unversed. "Scram!" We fought off the Unversed, and then tried to chase after the two men.  
"We lost them," I murmured after a few minutes of chasing.  
"Look out below!" Peter yelled from above, and flew down to us.  
"Peter, help! Tinker Bell's been pixie-napped!" Ven told him.  
"Then I'm too late," Peter said. "Hook's gonna pay for this!"  
"He said to meet him at Mermaid Lagoon," I added.  
"Gotta be an ambush," Peter said. "Hmph, that old codfish thinks he's clever." He started to take flight.  
"Hey, we're going, too!" Ven yelled.  
"Well, we have to hurry. Can you both keep up?" he asked, and I spread my wings.  
"You bet!" I said eagerly, and we left for Mermaid Lagoon, Ven running, and Peter Pan and me flying above him. We were close to the water when out of nowhere, a cannonball struck the ground near us. Ven summoned his Keyblade, and my claws glowed with light.  
"Cannon fire? Where's it coming from?" Ven wondered as I bristled with fear.  
"On the water! Over there!" Peter yelled, pointing to the ship. Another cannonball was fired, and we quickly fled from it. Tinker Bell came flying through the dust, and she flew straight to Peter. "Tink, it's you! And you're all right!" he cried out happily, and then she started to speak to him. "What? A strange fellah with a funny-lookin' sword has—" Suddenly, another cannon shot was fired. "Hold on, I gotta stop that cannon!"  
"Okay. We'll go after Hook!" I told him.  
"Right. Tink, if you would," Peter said, and Tinker Bell circled around Ven a few times, covering him in dust.  
"What…?" Ven said, confused, and he started to hover.  
"It's pixie dust," Peter explained. "Bet you feel lighter now, don'tcha?" And with that, he and Tinker Bell flew off to the ship while Ven and I flew off to Skull Rock to confront Hook. When we got there, he was laughing.  
"At last, that scurvy brat will never trouble me again!" he crowed, and we stepped out of hiding.  
"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Hook!" I snarled, and he turned to see us.  
"Swoggle me eyes! No, don't tell me!" he cried out, and looked through his telescope to see Peter Pan crowing after defeating the pirates on the ship. He threw down the telescope with rage and yelled, "Blast that Peter Pan!" He jumped to a small island between him and us and drew his sword when we all heard a ticking noise, and he looked around. "That sound!" he gasped, and saw a crocodile. "No! Not again! S-stay away from me!" He turned to run away, but we stopped him.  
"I don't think so!" Ven snapped at him, and we fought Captain Hook. After a long fight, we knocked Hook into the water, and when he saw the croc, he freaked the heck out.  
"Leave me alone!" he squealed, and fled across the water. "Help me, Smee! Smeeeeee!" He fled back to his ship, where they sailed out of sight.  
"Ahoy! Look what we brought!" we heard Cubby yell, and he and the fox boy were coming across the water in a boat with a chest, Peter Pan flying along with them.  
"It's a pirate's treasure chest!" Slightly said, and when they reached the shore, they got the chest out.  
"Treasure!" Ven said eagerly.  
"Yup! The same chest I told ya about. We snatched it right from Hook's hiding place," Peter explained, and opened the chest, but it was empty. "Huh? How come it's empty?"  
"Uh, sorry, but…we lost all the treasures," Cubby apologized.  
"Oh, well…That's too bad," I said.  
"Aw, who needs it?" Peter said dismissively. "It was prob'ly just full of dumb old jewels or doubloons or somethin' anyway."  
"We could just put what we treasure in there instead—if ya wanna?" Slightly suggested.  
"Yeah, that's perfect! Instead of fillin' it up with jewels and gold and stuff, we'll put in what's truly special to us! The real riches!" Peter agreed, and they filled it with wooden swords, sling shot guns, and bows and arrows. "What are you two puttin' in, Ven and Kesshi?"  
"I dunno…" Ven murmured, and check his pockets. I watched as he pulled out the wooden Keyblade. "How 'bout this?"  
"Hm, what is it?" Peter asked.  
"It's…just something that one of our best friends gave us," I explained.  
"So it's like a keepsake, huh?" Peter said curiously. "You sure you wanna part with somethin' that special?"  
"Yup," Ven said. "We don't need it if we've got Terra and Aqua. Our best memories are still ahead."  
"All right, then," Peter agreed. "Next time ya visit, we'll have an even bigger chest waitin'. Enough for all those treasures and lots more."  
"Okay, it's a deal," I replied with a slight smile. Ven placed the wooden Keyblade into the chest, and then Tinker Bell flew over to the chest with the Star Shard.  
"Oh, wait, Tink—we're pretty sure that belongs to a friend of ours," Ven told her. "Do you think maybe we could hang onto it?" She shook her head in saying no, and tried to fly off with it.  
"Now Tink!" Peter Pan scolded, and she flew back over and handed it to Ven.  
"Thank you," he told her, and the Star Shard began to glow, and it became so bright that we had to shield our eyes. The next thing we knew, we weren't there anymore.


	11. Forgotten Pasts

A/N: And now for chapter 11! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi & Kasshitas.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 11

Forgotten Pasts

The next thing we knew, we were in a strange place, and didn't know where we were. We heard a voice nearby.  
"Nope, they don't look like him," the voice said. "Look! Those fellers' got that Star Shard the King borrowed!"  
"King?" I repeated, confused. "Oh, you must be talking about Mickey." We got to our feet, and faced the two. "We saw him—but…" Suddenly, the pair started shoving us toward the tower we were near.  
"Huh? Hey, take it easy!" Ven protested as they pushed us.  
"Are we glad to see you two!" the duck said. We learned their names were Donald and Goofy. When we got to the top of the tower, there was an old man sitting at a desk as we stood before him.  
"Yen Sid, sir!" Goofy said. "We just got a clue as to where the King might be!"  
"Ah, Ventus and Kesshi," he said. We looked at him, confused, and then recognized the name. "Eraqus has told me much about you two. If I am not mistaken, you were ordered to return home."  
"Well, sir, we…" I mumbled, trailing off.  
"No matter. Mickey has difficulty following directions, too," Yen Sid told us, and I chuckled. "Where is this clue to Mickey's whereabouts?"  
"I've got it!" Donald said, and set the Star Shard on the desk.  
"These fellers, Venquist—Ventilate, Veggie—" Goofy struggled to say.  
"Just call them Ven and Kesshi!" Donald snapped at his companion.  
"Sure. That's what I usually go by," Ven said casually.  
"Ven and Kesshi had it when they got here," Donald explained.  
"Please, explain," Yen Sid told us.  
"We ran into Mickey. But we got sent flying into the light—we don't know where he went," I explained. "He wasn't in the same world as the one where we found that."  
"As I thought…Mickey has been hurling himself from one world to the next," Yen Sid murmured. "That explains why I could not discern his location."  
"You can now, can't you?" Donald asked.  
"Yes. I can," Yen Sid replied, and held his hands out, conjuring a circle of swirling smoke. We saw Mickey lying on a dusty lifeless ground, trying to get up.  
"Mickey!" Ven and I gasped.  
"The King!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed, but the image faded and the smoke dissipated.  
"What happened? Where'd he go? Is he okay?" Donald demanded.  
"There is a dark and powerful force that is interfering with my magic," Yen Sid explained.  
"Just tell us where the King is, Mr. Yen Sid, sir…and me and Donald will go right there and save him!" Goofy said.  
"You two? That may not be adequate," Yen Sid replied.  
"But I'm the captain of the King's royal knights!" Goofy argued, and summoned his shield.  
"And I'm his magician!" Donald added, and summoned his staff.  
"We'll find him," Ven offered. "We recognize that place."  
"If you'll go, then we'll go with you!" Donald declared.  
"No, we owe him," I said. "Mickey saved us once. And we can't risk putting his friends in danger." Donald and Goofy looked down, disappointed.  
"Don't worry," Ven and I assured them. "We swear we'll bring him back safe."  
"Very well, Ventus and Kesshi. We will leave it to you both," Yen Sid told us, and we nodded and left. We entered the Badlands and ran toward Mickey.  
"Mickey!" I cried out, and we ran over to him, Ven rolling him over and lifting his head.  
"We meet again, boy and dragon," a familiar voice said. We looked and saw Master Xehanort walking towards us. Ven laid Mickey's head back down, and we straightened up.  
"Master Xehanort," we murmured. Suddenly, memories came rushing to our minds. We remembered ourselves lying on the ground at the Badlands, Master Xehanort rolling us over with his foot. Then the night where Master Xehanort was going to leave us on Destiny Islands. Then when he left us with Master Eraqus. We fell to our knees, holding our heads in agony, and Master Xehanort smiled.  
"Ah yes, so you are both starting to realize…what you lost—oh, but not for good," Xehanort said. "You both had to lose in order to find. Now it can all be yours again, if you only reach out and take it. Reclaim the parts the left you both. Clash with them! Pure light against pure darkness, to forge the ultimate key. The all-powerful X-blade!" We screamed and fell forward, hitting the ground.  
"Key…blade?" Ven growled through his teeth.  
"Not the Keyblades you and I carry," he replied, and held out his hand, a stylized X floating in front of it. "'X'…A most ancient letter. Some say 'kye,' but the meaning is the same." He closed his hand and the X vanished. "Death…A letter that spells endings." He held his arms up and a dark portal appeared above Ven, Mickey, and me.  
"And we have the power to make it?" I hissed through my fangs.  
"Correct. Eraqus knows it, too. He knows exactly what you two are," Xehanort told us.  
"The Master?" Ven said, and I whimpered in pain.  
"Haven't either of you ever wondered?" he asked us. "Why he never granted you permission to leave his side, to grow stronger? Eraqus was frightened of you both. If either of you were to learn the truth, realize what you are…He never trusted you. Why else would he keep you within his sight at all times?" Purple lightning flashed from the dark portal and struck just in front of our faces.  
"Yeah. He never let us see other worlds, no matter how much we asked," we murmured, remembering, and we stood up.  
"Go," Xehanort said, and pushed his hand forward, causing wind to rush at us. "You can ask the man yourselves. Learn the truth, and remember you have a greater purpose!" We were thrown back, and Mickey, Ven, and I were lifted into the swirling vortex of air headed into the dark portal. When we woke up, it was in the Lanes Between, Ven in his armor, and we started awaken. I groaned and grabbed my head.  
"What are we?" Ven asked me as we looked at each other. "What has the Master been keeping from us all this time?" We looked up and saw the Land of Departure, and made our way to it. We flew through the Land of Departure and entered the forecourt. We stopped before looking to the castle and moving forward, and then stopped again.  
"Ventus, Kesshi, you're alone?" Eraqus's voice said behind us. We turned and saw him. "I thought Aqua would—" He placed his hand on Ven's right shoulder, and I bristled from his left. "Well, what matters is that you're both home. Neither of you belong outside this world yet. You need to stay here where you can learn—"  
"In your prison?" I growled.  
"What?" Eraqus said, feigning confusion.  
"That's your excuse…for keeping us imprisoned here, isn't it?" Ven pressed.  
"What did you hear?" he demanded.  
"That we're supposed to be some weapon…Some kind of 'X-blade'!" I snapped, and the Master placed his hand over the scar on the right side of his face.  
"I knew it. Xehanort—he could never let it go," Eraqus murmured, and explained what happened in the past to us. Once finished, he said, "I failed. I had the chance to stop him and couldn't do it. But I will not fail again." He summoned his Keyblade and took a fighting stance.  
"Master! What are you…?" Ven yelped, trailing off.  
"The X-blade had no place in this or any world. Xehanort has made his purpose clear…and I am left with no choice. Forgive me…but you must exist no more." He focused energy around the tip of his Keyblade and swung it forward towards us, releasing the energy in strands that looked like chains. We closed our eyes, bracing for our demise.  
"Ven! Kesshi!" Terra?! He was suddenly in front of us, and he had blocked the attack.  
"What?" Eraqus gasped.  
"Master, have you gone mad?" Terra demanded.  
"Terra! I command you—step aside!" Eraqus ordered him.  
"No!" Terra yelled defiantly.  
"You will not heed your Master?" Eraqus demanded in disbelief.  
"I won't!" Terra snapped.  
"Why do all my attempts to reach you fail?" Eraqus wondered. "If you don't have it in your heart to obey…then you will have to share Ventus and Kesshi's fates."  
"Enough, Terra!" I cried out. "He's right…"  
"Quiet!" Terra snapped at me.  
"Terra…" Ven murmured. Eraqus performed an attack that threw all three of us back. Terra landed on his feet, but Ven and I didn't. Terra picked us up while Eraqus focused another attack, and Terra focused and began to become surrounded by dark aura.  
"You may be my Master. But I will not…let you hurt my friends!" Terra yelled at him. He opened a portal and threw us into it.  
"Wait, Terra!" we cried out, but the portal closed, and the last thing we saw was Terra and Eraqus preparing to fight each other. We were soon spat out from the portal onto the beach at Destiny Islands. "Wait, Terra!" we cried out again, but the portal closed before we could reach it. Upset, Ven reached to his shoulder to activate his armor, but before we could leave, we heard Vanitas and Kasshitas.  
"Going somewhere?" they asked. We looked and saw them standing on the bridge above us.  
"We're through with you two!" we yelled furiously, and turned to walk away.  
"Well, we're just getting started with you two. You're both strong enough now to fulfill your purpose," they retorted, and Vanitas summoned his Keyblade while darkness flowed from Kasshitas's claws. "So what are you waiting for? Join with us right here and now. Become the X-blade."  
"No, we won't do it," we snapped back. "He told us, the only way the X-blade can be forged is if the four of us fight. Well guess what? We're not fighting."  
"You both used to be too broken to talk back," they sneered, and Ven and I grabbed our heads in pain as memories flowed back to us. It was Ven and me, and we were surrounded by Neoshadows in the Badlands. We were watching them, terrified.  
"Please don't do this, Master. We're not strong enough," we begged Xehanort.  
"No. It is because you are both trying to hold it in. Let the dark impulses waken in the pit of your heart. Release them, here and now! Sharpen your fear into rage," he ordered us, and more Neoshadows appeared. "You must! If you do not let the storm within you run its course, it will wipe you both from the face of the world, make no mistake!" The Neoshadows began to close in, and we watched, petrified with fear. "Do it. Embrace the darkness. Produce for your Master the X-blade!" The Neoshadows attacked us, and we passed out. When they were gone, we were barely conscious, only enough to hear what was going on around us as we each laid face down in the dirt. Xehanort walked over to us. "Really? You would rather die than use the power? Feckless neophytes." He placed his foot on us and rolled each of us over onto our backs. "If I must…I will extract the darkness from within you both myself." He summoned his Keyblade, and unleashed a beam from it into Ven's heart, then mine. Pieces from each of our hearts were unlocked and extracted, and they each took form, one in the form of Vanitas, the other into Kasshitas. Our eyes glazed over, and Xehanort spoke to them. "Empty creature from Ventus riven…to you, the name Vanitas shall be given. Empty creature from Kesshi riven…to you, the name Kasshitas shall be given."  
"Yes, Master," they said in unison, and the memory ended. We held our heads in pain as we snapped back to the present.  
"Fine. Then we'll give you a reason to fight," Vanitas and Kasshitas said.  
"What?" we said, confused.  
"Come and find us…at the one and only place to spawn the X-blade—the Keyblade Graveyard," they told us. "There you're both gonna see us choke the life out of Terra and Aqua. Then we'll see how long either of you plays the pacifist." They summoned a dark portal.  
"Wait!" we yelled, but they stepped through and vanished. We pulled out our Wayfinders and looked at them. "Terra, Aqua…We swear we'll put an end to this." Ven summoned his Keyblade, opened a portal to Lanes Between, and we flew through it, my best friend riding his Keyblade Glider.


	12. Hearts Rejoined

A/N: And now, on to Chapter 12! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi & Kasshitas.

Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story

Chapter 12

Hearts Rejoined

We entered the Keyblade Graveyard and looked around at the scars that were left in the landscape. Ven held his hand out in front of him and summoned his Keyblade, and I placed my glowing claws over his hand.  
"Friends forever," we murmured, and Ven released it. We left through the area, and eventually found Terra and Aqua. When we approached them, we explained what happened. "Xehanort wants us and Vanitas and Kasshitas to fight, and make some kind of 'X-blade.' But the Master said we can't let that happen…and he tried to destroy us for it."  
"X-blade?" Aqua repeated, confused.  
"We still don't know exactly what it is. But…it scares us to death," we admitted. "Even just the thought of it."  
"Relax, Ven and Kesshi," Terra told us. "We're here and we're gonna take care of you."  
"We may have to fight Vanitas and Kasshitas after all," we murmured. "If we do, guys…we want you to—"  
"The four of us can never be torn apart, all right?" Terra said. "I'll always find a way."  
"We're asking you, as friends…Just…put an end to us," we begged, and they gasped. The wind suddenly picked up then, and we all looked in the same direction. Master Xehanort was walking towards us, and Vanitas and Kasshitas appeared behind him. They soon stopped.  
"Behold…These lifeless keys used to be full of power—united with the hearts of their masters. On this barren soil, Keyblades of light and darkness were locked in combat…as a great Keyblade War raged. Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me…" Xehanort said and pointed at Ven and me. "X-blade." My friends donned their armor, and Ven and I started to rush over, but Terra held us back and charged forward himself. He started to attack, but was slammed hard by earth that rushed up from the ground, thanks to Xehanort. Terra slid across the earth, and after regaining himself, watched Xehanort, Vanitas, and Kasshitas as they rose up on another plateau of earth. Xehanort stretched his arm towards the Keyblades below him. The sky grew dark and he created a cyclone of Keyblades that were ripped from the ground, and he sent them towards Aqua, Ven, and me.  
"Ven! Kesshi!" Aqua screamed, and we fled from it as Vanitas jumped and rode on it with Kasshitas flying alongside him. Ven and I got knocked down, and then the dark pair took off after Terra, who was knocked off of one of the cliffs by the Keyblade cyclone. Aqua looked up, but was thrown into the air when the Keyblades rose from the ground under her. When she landed, we ran over to see if she was okay.  
"Aqua!" I cried out. Aqua grabbed her Keyblade and pointed it up while it began to glow.  
"Terra!" she yelled, and a magic spell flew from her Keyblade to Terra, who was being lifted into the air by the cyclone of Keyblades. When it reached him, he was in front of Xehanort, and it formed a barrier around him, stopping the Keyblades from hitting him. It didn't last long, though, and exploded as Xehanort watched, smiling maliciously. Aqua, who had lost her helmet, Ven, and I all looked up after the explosion. Ven and I suddenly ran to Terra, who had been thrown across the plateau's ground after the explosion. Terra landed in front of Xehanort, who readied his Keyblade. Ven and I ran to attack Xehanort from behind, but he disappeared only to reappear behind us, and grabbed us in each hand by the head.  
"Ven! Kesshi!" Terra yelled in terror. We flailed, trying to get free but couldn't. Terra charged at Xehanort, but was thrown back by the Keyblade cyclone that Vanitas and Kasshitas were still using. The dark pair landed next to Xehanort, and Aqua stood up, watching helplessly as we struggled.  
"Ven! Kesshi!" she screamed, and we looked at her as we were covered in dark mist and frozen by Xehanort. The evil monster dropped us over the cliff, but Aqua caught us both before we could hit the ground, and we slid across it. She looked at us and saw we were still alive, both of our pairs of eyes moving. "Ven, Kesshi, are you okay?" she asked in a panic. Xehanort, who was holding a dark ball of flames, laughed, and held his arm to the sky, releasing the dark flame to the clouds. The clouds moved away, revealing a blue heart-shaped moon, Kingdom Hearts. Aqua looked up in amazement, still holding us, frozen.  
"How 'bout you leave the popsicles with me, so you can go have your little fight with Terra," a man's voice nearby said, and Aqua gasped. "You can't be too happy about him deep-sixing your Master." He laughed, and we could barely see that his one visible eye was yellow, and that he had pointed ears.  
"Who are you?" Aqua demanded.  
"You think you three have got some grand role to play. As if," he said. "You're only here so that when I finish you off…Terra will succumb to the darkness. So…who wants to go first?"  
"Shut up!" Ven yelled furiously from his icy prison.  
"Oh, so this kiddo thinks he's a full-fledged Keyblade wielder?" the man taunted. "He's got the angry look down."  
"Go ahead if you want to waste your time," Aqua said with a deathly calm. "Keep trying to drive us apart with your mind games. It'll never work!" She laid us down, and we struggled to move as she stood up. "Terra will prove to you he's stronger!" She summoned her Keyblade and charged at the man.  
"Aqua!" we both cried out desperately, and we continued to struggle, trying to move. After Aqua defeated the man, he backed away.  
"I keep forgetting—don't mess with Keyblade wielders," he said. "But you know what? That just means I made the right choice!" Aqua charged towards the man again, and he said, "Well…he wanted me to buy time, and I'd say he got it." And with that, he turned and fled.  
"What? Ven! Kesshi!" Aqua cried out.  
"Aqua!" we screamed, and we could see Vanitas and Kasshitas falling from the cliff, heading straight for Aqua. As they fell, they struck Aqua down. We struggled as hard as we could, doing our best to free ourselves. Vanitas held his Keyblade over Aqua's heart while Kasshitas unsheathed his claws to kill her.  
"NO!" we shrieked, and broke free of the ice. We put ourselves into a fighting stance and fought Vanitas and Kasshitas. We fought as hard as we could, and soon struck them down. Once they were beaten, they hunched over, a dark aura surrounding them both.  
"You've done it, Ventus and Kesshi," they said in unison. Vanitas released his Keyblade and their masks began to dissolve, revealing their faces. "Now that our bodies are about to perish…you two and us will have to join together! The X-blade will be forged!" They released some darkness, and Unversed shot out from it, restraining us each.  
"The Unversed…come from you two?" we gasped, horrified.  
"It happened when you and us were split into two. The negativity took shape as these monsters. They are what we feel—a horde of fledgling emotions under our control. We released them in all the worlds we could, hoping to lure you away from home and isolate you both from your Master. We needed to make you both stronger. The Unversed were the perfect opponents. And better yet, no matter how many times you defeat them…their negativity flows right back into us," they explained, and absorbed all but the few Unversed holding us. "Neither of you ever stood a chance against us, Ventus and Kesshi." The pair walked closer to us, and a sphere of light surrounded us, growing in size and blowing Aqua back. The ground cracked around us from the force of it. Ven and I screamed and the sphere condensed, firing a red light towards the sky. When we woke up, Ven was no longer in his armor, and we floated down to a stained glass station of our hearts. Vanitas and Kasshitas floated down, Vanitas holding a new weapon, and Kasshitas glowing with a grey light.  
"Our union was not finished," they murmured in unison. The stained glass station now included Vanitas and Kasshitas in its design. The weapon that Vanitas held, a blade that came from two Kingdom Keys crossed, was broken and missing pieces. "The X-blade shouldn't stay broken like this. Join us now, and we can complete the X-blade!" Vanitas pointed the blade at us, and Kasshitas bristled furiously. We shook our heads, no.  
"We've got a better idea," we said. "How 'bout we destroy all three of you?" Ven summoned his Keyblade as I glowed with white light. The dark pair laughed at us.  
"The X-blade is made of your hearts, too, idiots," they reminded us. "If you destroy it, your hearts will vanish forever."  
"Whatever it takes," we told them calmly. "Anything to save Terra and Aqua."  
"Hmph, it's always about your friends, isn't it?" they taunted.  
"At least we have some!" we snapped back. "We've become a part of their hearts, just as they've become a part of ours! Our friends are our power…and we're theirs!" We fought our final fight with Vanitas and Kasshitas, performing our best magic and strikes with the Keyblade and light. After they were beaten, our heart station was shattered, and we dealt the final deathly blow to the dark pair. The X-blade slipped from Vanitas, and he struggled, trying to grab it, but couldn't. Kasshitas screamed in agony as the light and darkness left him. They dark pair fell, and the X-blade shattered, followed by Ven's Keyblade. Vanitas and Kasshitas fell toward a darkened broken station, and when they neared it, they faded to light. The light hit the station and restored it, with only Ven and my pictures on it. We landed on it, turned into hearts, and flew off. We soon splashed through a bright light that felt very warm and welcoming. As we fell, we were separated, and we opened our eyes. We were still linked, but were separated.  
"These places…" we murmured. "We've been here. So warm…we remember now. These are your hearts."


End file.
